The sky was a murderous blood red. At the top of a mountain of corpse stood a slim woman in all black. Her dress billowed around her while her hair wisped like willow. Her glowing red eyes peered down at the surviving cultivators. In her hand was the head Wei Xing. Her bright red lips stretched into a devious grin then she burst out into laughter. Her head was thrown back as her shoulders shook from her crazy laughter.
Among the surviving cultivators, Xiu Xiang watched in horror. She was on her knees and covered in blood. She watched helplessly with the rest of the righteous cultivators. They had failed. The Demoness woke up and destroyed the world after she killed Wei Xing.
The Demoness's laugh pierced her ears. She wanted nothing more than to drown out that crazy laugh.
"No! Wei Xing!" Xiu Xiang woke up with a start. As soon as she sat up, she felt a wave of dizziness hit her. She tumbled over and nearly fell to the floor when a pair of arms caught her.
"My lord!"
Her eyes traveled up and landed on Hua Jian.
"Hua Jian...?" She checked her surroundings and realized that she was somewhere within the Night Palace. Her head pounded like crazy. Her body felt heavy and weak. She felt as if a two ton bulldozer had ran her over.
Hua Jian helped her lean against the bed frame and fell onto his feet.
"My lord! This subordinate has failed you!" Hua Jian exclaimed.
Xiu Xiang was in the middle of massaging the temples of her forehead when she heard Hua Jian's statement. She froze for a moment then looked down at Hua Jian whose head was lowered like he dared not to look at her.
Her brows furrowed deeply at Hua Jian's action.
"Hua Jian, when did you turn so meek? You're even prostrating before me. Get up. You're an embarrassment to the Demon Clan," Xiu Xiang stated.
He looked up with tear eyes.
"My lord, it really is you! You haven't changed one bit!" he cried.
Did he purposely do that just to hear her insult him? When did he turn into a masochist?
"How did I get here?" Xiu Xiang asked.
"The new Demon Lord brought you back," Hua Jian answered. The moment he mentioned Wei Xing, his face darkened. He suddenly remembered how Wei Xing had treated her and he suddenly wanted to claw at his beautiful face.
"The new Demon Lord...? Wei Xing brought me back?" Xiu Xiang's eyes enlarged. It really was Wei Xing who had come to her rescue!
She threw her legs over the edge of the bed and rushed out of the room.
"My lord!" Hua Jian cried out but Xiu Xiang had already taken off.
Since he was the new Demon Lord, he was probably residing in her old room. She rushed off in that direction, gaining the attention of many guards. None of them bother to stop her. She assumed it was probably Hua Jian's orders.
Her legs nearly gave out on her but she kept running. After nearly dying for a second time, she didn't want to waste another minute. She just knew that she needed to see Wei Xing. It wasn't long until she arrived at the doors to Wei Xing's quarters. Having used up all of her spiritual energy, she ignored the painful throbbing inside of her. She could feel her spiritual energy slowly going in disarray. Even so, she wanted to see Wei Xing. The dream she had woken up from shook her greatly. Throwing the doors opened, she walked in. She didn't see Wei Xing and assumed he was in the bedroom. Her feet moved of its own accord.
She was quick to regret her decision. Clothes that seemed like it belonged to a woman was strewn across the floor. She could hear the sound of a woman urging someone to embrace her. Xiu Xiang knew exactly what was about to happen in the bedroom. Still, she kept moving forward. She came to a stop when she saw a half naked woman wrapped around Wei Xing in bed.
"Wei Xing?" Her voice woke the two from their stupor. The woman who clung onto Wei Xing turned her head shocking Xiu Xiang even further. It was Bai Qing!
What was the relationship between the two? Suddenly, she felt foolish for having ran all the way here using up most of her spiritual energy until it went into disarray. Of course, Wei Xing would turn his attention onto Bai Qing after she had died. It wasn't like she told him she loved him. What man would continue to harbor feelings for someone who was already dead?
Regret filled her up. She wanted nothing more than to disappear on the spot. The look of disdain he gave her was all that she needed to know. She was stupid to think that Wei Xing was in love with her.
She gave in to the increasing pain in her body. Xiu Xiang spat a mouthful a blood in front of them and tumbled to the ground. Neither Wei Xing nor Bai Qing stood up to check on her. Xiu Xiang looked up at Wei Xing from the ground as tears welled up in her eyes. Just seeing the way he looked at her tore her up inside. She was almost sure that he wanted her dead. Unable to look at him any longer, she closed her eyes and fainted on the spot.
"My lord!" Hua Jian appeared just seconds after. He fell to his knees to check on Xiu Xiang and nearly fainted. Her spiritual energy was in disarray. They were in the Demon Realm and didn't have any pills on hand as demons have no need for it.
He glared at Wei Xing and cried, "Are you really going to just sit there and watch her die like this?!"
Wei Xing almost looked irritated. He pushed Bai Qing off him and stepped over Xiu Xiang's unconscious body to leave the room.
"Is this all that your love amounts to?!" Hua Jian yelled after him.
Wei Xing stopped in his tracks. He whipped around and smirked. "You know better than anyone else."
"Hmph! I really don't. Wei Xing, do you really care nothing for her?" Hua Jian asked.
"Why should I care for the woman who buried my love deep under ice?" Wei Xing replied sharply. He couldn't understand why Hua Jian would want him to care for a woman he didn't know.
Hua Jian's hand clenched tightly into a fist until his nails pierced his skin. He wasn't Wei Xing's opponent despite wanting to tear him to pieces. If the man who claims to love Xiu Xiang deeply couldn't even recognize the woman he loved then there was no point in telling him. He pulled Xiu Xiang into his arms and spat, "You're going to regret this."
He sped out of the room without giving an explanation to Wei Xing.
After Hua Jian left the room, Wei Xing felt something tug at his heart. He couldn't understand why that woman's tears pained him. He even struggled to keep himself in check when he saw her tumbled to the ground. Constantly reminding himself that the woman was the reason why the one he loved was buried under ice, he didn't need to sympathize with her.
As he thought this, Bai Qing suddenly came from behind him to hug him.
"My lord," she started only for Wei Xing to throw her off.
"Get out of my room! You are forbidden to enter my room from now on. If you have anything important to say to me, let Hua Jian know first." Wei Xing gave her a look of disgust. "Hand over your pills to Hua Jian."
With that said, Wei Xing took off without a second glance.
Bai Qing stood in the room half naked, feeling ashamed and torn. The man she had solely devoted her life to didn't even give her naked body a second glance. Did he really care nothing for her?
She slowly put her clothes back, trying keep the tears from falling. Then she remembered that strange woman that barged in on them. Anger surged within her. If that woman hadn't entered, she would've been able to bind Wei Xing to her. She had slowly cast an illusion on Wei Xing earlier but it broke apart the moment the woman stormed in.
"I won't forgive that woman for interfering!" Bai Qing thought bitterly. She wasn't going to send pills to save that woman. She could die for all Bai Qing cared.
When Xiu Xiang finally woke up again, three days had already passed. She felt numb as she sat up in bed. The scene of Wei Xing and a naked Bai Qing came hurling to the forefront of her mind. The door to her room opened and Hua Jian entered with a tray of medicine. He walked over to Xiu Xiang's side and handed the bowl of medicine and a jar filled with three pills.
"My lord, I personally went to the human realm to fetch these for you," Hua Jian said. He handed the warm bowl of medicine over. He was still fuming over the fact that Wei Xing didn't order for Bai Qing to hand over her pills, only he didn't realize that Wei Xing had in fact ordered Bai Qing to but she just refused to.
Bai Qing was the only human in the demon realm so she should have pills on hand. There was no reason for Hua Jian to have gone all the way to the human realm to fetch her medicine. Since Hua Jian had to go the human realm, she realized that Wei Xing didn't care if she died or not.
She barely tasted the bitter medicine as it went down her throat. She then swallowed the pills that Hua Jian handed to her. The moment the pills dissolved in her mouth, she felt the fluctuating energy inside her calm down and despite her broken heart, she felt another surge of energy growing inside her. It was the energy from her phoenix lineage!
Xiu Xiang didn't know how but somehow her phoenix power had awakened inside her own body. She raised an open palm and a small burst of fire emitted.
"My lord! I can sense a demon beast energy inside you!" Hua Jian recognized the same energy he felt in Xiu Xiang when she was the Demoness.
Her phoenix lineage had awaken within her. She didn't think that she would ever get her phoenix power back!
Neither of them knew that the reason why her phoenix lineage had awaken was because of Wei Xing's blood. The energy that once belonged to the late Demon King was residing within Wei Xing. It had been the key to awakening her powers.
After Xiu Xiang made sure that she had indeed retained her old powers, she asked, "What is the relationship between Wei Xing and Bai Qing?"
Hua Jian glowered at the thought of Bai Qing and Wei Xing.
"Master and dog," he replied sarcastically.
"I see." Xiu Xiang knew what kind of person Wei Xing was. He never lets a woman near him. Since Bai Qing could be so close to him, it could only mean that he cares for her. He had chosen to forget her, otherwise, how could he possibly not recognize her? Her aura was still the same as before despite no longer having her demoness power from before.
Hua Jian wanted to tell her that there was no point crying over an idiot who can't even recognize her, only to keep his mouth shut when he saw Xiu Xiang gasped in pain. He sighed heavily and told himself that there was no point in stressing her over this fact. He'll let that idiot Wei Xing suffer for all the pain he dealt upon Xiu Xiang.
"What happened during the time I was gone?" Xiu Xiang asked.
"Of course, I've taken over most of your duties in the Demon Realm despite the demons nominating Wei Xing as the new Demon Lord. We are constantly fighting with the righteous cultivators because of the death of Bai Qing's grandfather. To think that Bai Qing even turned her back on her own sect. I don't trust that woman. If she was able to turn her back on her own sect, there's no telling what she'll do to the Demon Clan," Hua Jian told her.
Taking in a deep breath, Xiu Xiang's mind finally cleared. She had forgotten what her role was in this world. She was the Demoness. There was no need for feelings. For the first time since her rebirth, her mind was clear.
"Hua Jian, where are my personal guards?"